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I had to laugh at O.Co Coliseum yesterday. So they built a huge upper deck, killing the baseball atmosphere, then the football team drapes huge tarps over it because no one goes to their games. Hilarious.

A waterfront stadium near Jack London would be pretty great. If they called it Jack London Stadium it would be even better, but I realize that will never happen in a $million$ years. If Fisher and Wolff are so dead set against an Oakland stadium, maybe they could sell the team to someone who will.

I don't see building a new BART station, but a 1-mile walk from 12th Street or Lake Merritt is not bad. About the same distance from BART to PacBell Park in San Francisco. Sortof sketchy area though.

Well, they also have the MUNI train which drops off literally right in front of the stadium which you can transfer to easily from BART and is about a 6 minute ride. Those trains are absolutely packed before and after a game.

What makes the BART walk functional (though many, many more people use the MUNI or park at the stadium than make the BART walk) is a) you're walking through San Francisco, which is awesome, and b) there was a lot of commercial space available in a neighborhood that was already turning cool thanks to the tech boom, which has turned into restaurants, bars, etc. to make the walk more pleasant. The walk from Lake Merritt station to Jack London Square is never going to be pleasant. 12th Street would be better, but you're still not going to get a really great vibe. Oakland just isn't especially metropolitan, particularly at night.

There is an Amtrack station there also so people from SJ could easily go. Unfortunately Amtrack does not run after the games, so they could not go back home.

Ive never tried the walk from Bart to Jack London as I always bike from the station, which is less than 5 minutes. There is also a ferry terminal right there which we sometimes use. I imagine with a new waterfront stadium, lots of folks would come from SF on the ferry in the beginning at least, and for all yankee and Red sox games...

I had to laugh at O.Co Coliseum yesterday. So they built a huge upper deck, killing the baseball atmosphere, then the football team drapes huge tarps over it because no one goes to their games. Hilarious.

Believe it or not, I've been to Raiders games at that stadium that were actually sold out. Of course, they were playing the Broncos (but they were playing Kc yesterday.. should be a sellout) and it was like in '96-'98. The Raiders were in a downswing back then, but it wasn't prolonged once Gruden came around. Now it's like Raiders have been on a permanent downswing since that beating they took against TB.

Plus, even back then, tickets were expensive for nosebleeds. We paid $60 to sit in nosebleeds and I would imagine they haven't gone down in the last 15 years. And they are the kind of seats the casual fan buys for the most part.

Oakland has something of an uphill battle convincing MLB or anyone else with a lot of money and no local ties that it's a city worth looking at for any kind of business. Of course the same could be said of Detroit but the Tigers are the only game in town they've been there 113 years. I'd be amazed if the A's are still in Oakland in 20 years.

Oakland has something of an uphill battle convincing MLB or anyone else with a lot of money and no local ties that it's a city worth looking at for any kind of business. Of course the same could be said of Detroit but the Tigers are the only game in town they've been there 113 years. I'd be amazed if the A's are still in Oakland in 20 years.

It has seemed to me that the key to getting Wolff to sign on is that he wants extra real estate that he can then develop and sell as part of the deal. At least that has been my impression. I think a park at the waterfront would be great and would draw a lot of fans.

The suburbs of Detroit are quite affluent and populous (4.2 mill in greater Detroit). I wouldn't be totally surprised to see the Tigers out there someday. Comerica is still a nice park in what is still a nice part of town in downtown Detroit though.

The rich people with local ties to Detroit seem to really love Detroit despite its flaws, or at least love the idea of Detroit (while living afar in Grosse Point or Livonia). Does Oakland have that kind of civic love?

Lew Wolff wants to tear down a baseball stadium and build a mall. Contrast this with the Sacramento Kings who are tearing down a mall to build an arena. If Lew Wolff wants to build a mall why doesn't he buy a fricking mall?

Does Vivek Ranadive have enough money to buy the A's? That would be pretty awesome.

The rich people with local ties to Detroit seem to really love Detroit despite its flaws, or at least love the idea of Detroit (while living afar in Grosse Point or Livonia). Does Oakland have that kind of civic love?

Not really.

A huge difference is that Detroit doesn't have to compete with San Francisco for civic love. The vast majority of affluent people living in Bay Area suburbs love the idea of San Francisco, while paying virtually no attention to Oakland.

The residents of Oakland itself (in the non-ghastly neighborhoods, at least) as well as in closely-neighboring Alameda and Berkeley demonstrate a genuine love for Oakland. But your typical resident of Concord or Santa Rosa or Fremont or Palo Alto or Cupertino doesn't give two sh!ts about Oakland.

One data point: in the last 35 years I've lived in Alameda, El Cerrito, Daly City, San Mateo, and West Oakland (all "East Bay" or "Peninsula," and each within a mile or two of San Francisco Bay) and I'd say yes, there is a ton of "civic love" for Oakland on the part of locals (excepting, apparently, from Lew Wolff). Agreed that there is an "ugly step-sister" attitude given the proximity of San Francisco, but I'd say that's more on the part of outsiders (and I'd include in that group those from the aforementioned Concord, Santa Rosa, Fremont, Palo Alto, and Cupertino).